How Is White House Trade Policy Affecting U.S. States?
Politico’s “Morning Trade” tried to answer that question last week. According to an analysis by reporter Taylor Miller Thomas, more than 60 percent of U.S. states saw their total exports decline in the first half of 2019 compared to the same period in 2018.
Politico explained, “Growth of both exports and imports has slowed since the summer of 2018, shortly after the Trump administration imposed its first major round of tariffs on steel and aluminum. But the second quarter of 2019 marked the first window in three years in which exports declined from the same time period the year before …”
Hawaii, where exports declined 34 percent year-over-year, is the state that has been most impacted by recent trade decision.
The news was not all negative, however: 19 states experienced increases in exports from the first half of 2018 to the first half of 2019. Utah was the main beneficiary. Exports from that state rose 20.4 percent in the first six months of 2019 compared to the same period in 2018.